- You can't build 40MW of solar panels for $2M, even with theoretical maximum efficiency. You can't even build the cabling and regulators at that price.
- You need battery storage -- not as your backup -- but as primary source. It is going to cost more than $2M. Batteries are heavy. They are going to cost a lot to launch. This is not even solved on the ground yet.
- You need a heat transport medium to move heat into your massive radiator. Either you use water or you use air or you use heatpipes (metal). You have to pay for the cost and weight and launch expense. This is probably half the weight of the rack and I haven't bothered to do the math about how you transport heat into a 500 foot solar sail.
- Let's not even talk about how you need to colocate multiple other racks for compute and storage. There aren't any 1TBps orbital link technologies.
- Rad shielding? It doesn't work, but I'll let this slide; it seems like the least problematic part of the proposal.
- 15 year lifetime? GPUs are obsolete after 12 months.
I don't want to be the guy who shoots stuff down just for fun, but this doesn't even pass the sniff test. Maybe you can get 10x cheaper power and cooling in space. Still doesn't work.
The biggest problem is software. The CUDA stack is not maintained forever and certainly less than 15 years.
... couldn't you just merge both problems into a solution - your radiators ARE you power source
How so? Is it not possible to position the satellite in an orbit that keeps it in perpetual sunlight?
Not arguing with your overall point - this company looks ridiculous.
Just that it tends to involve heavy AF materials like water
I guess you need connections too, and maybe a previous exit.
This idea in particular doesn't make any sense... Currently. Maybe in a decade or so with better technology.
Although the prospect of polluting the stars itself with a bunch of computers generating AI slips... We paved Paradise to put up a parking lot
So it skews the economics pretty harshly. I think OP is right - you need good batteries somehow.
But more seriously, GPU loads are super spiky. Ground-based power grids and generators and batteries have trouble keeping up with them. You can go from 1MW idle to 50MW full power in 10ms. Unbuffered solar cells are right out.
That sounds like something that could be addressed in software, if necessary? Cap/throttle the GPUs according to the available power, and ramp power up/down gradually if spikiness is the issue.